Slowly creeping up it was 7.02 today on the internet. If it gets up around 7.2 or so I would suggest paying some of the safari cost off while it is 7.0 or above.

7.0775 today creeping up again, need to watch it and hope it goes a little higher.

Today's rate looks like it has jumped to 7.21-may be time to make a payment!

I think it would be a good idea. My magic thought was 7.2 because you end up at around 7.0 and that is a good rate based on recent history.

It may go higher of course, everyone has to make their own decision.

I think it would be a good idea. My magic thought was 7.2 because you end up at around 7.0 and that is a good rate based on recent history.

It may go higher of course, everyone has to make their own decision.

Is this advice for ROAR 2 and GAME ??

Yes, it looks like we'll be making a payment this week for ROAR2.

I went to Yahoo Finance and the 1-year chart for the Rand shows an almost complete "head and shoulders" pattern. (If you're into technical analysis of stock charts, you'll know what I'm referring to.) The existing "shoulder" topped out at 7.4 in August 2007, so there's a very good chance we'll hit 7.4 shortly to complete the second "shoulder" (although the rate may not stay there for very long).

Here's the URL for the chart: http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?from=USD&to=ZAR&amt=1&t=1y

Marcie, prior to August 2007, the Rand hadn't hit 7.4 rate since March 2007 and before that, it was October and November 2006 when it hovered around that rate.

Len and I decided that we'd consider anything between 7.2 and 7.4 to be a good rate for us and we'd make a payment at that point.

Cheers,

Andrea

Yes, Marcie. Game is only a few months behind ROAR.

Well it was 7.25 yesterday and earlier this morning. Now dropped to 7.09. I sent all the charges in yesterday to South Africa, of course they were asleep when they arrived in their office. They were all run during the day in South Africa while we were asleep. I called when I woke up this morning and they had run them all through. So it will be interesting to see what the exchange rate was once it is posted on your credit cards. We might have hit it just right it is dropping now.

Now we wait for another spike for any more payoffs. To me that magic number is 7.2 so you get close to 7.0 any higher is great of course.

Suggestion.

These "blips" in the Rand are fleeting. If you want to pay off any or all of your balance when it hits 7.2 please let us know.

We MUST know your preferences and have a decision on insurance prior to making a final payoff. By the time we email and contact you the opportunity has passed.

I have some waiting for payoff now that missed the last opportunity earlier this week.

It went higher today for a while but everyone in South Africa was asleep and it must be run from there. Right now it is back at 7.14.

I will be gone but Debbie will watch it but in order to have the timing right we really need pre-approval and all the "ducks in a row" to make it happen.

No pressure to pay now just if you want to take advantage of the higher exchange rate.

FYI...

Just checked and the Rand is at 7.2055 as of 9:30 am EST.

Andrea

Yes, I just send one through to get charged.

The rand hit 7.2 fleetingly this morning and has dropped down again now. It has been hitting some very quick spikes and then dropping again very quickly.

Last week it went as high as 7.30 momentarily then dropped way down to 6.8 it is very voliatile.

Everything must be in order for us to hit these highs. At 8.00 am in the morning Dallas time it is 4.00 pm down in South Africa. The South Africa offices close at 5.00 pm. So all this has be to be done between 8.00 am and 9.00 am in the morning DALLAS time. If we do not get it run at that time the next day and the rate could be quite different.

We also need your decisions on insurance decided before we pay these balances.

If your card is declined for a foreign charge you will lose the opportunity for the rate. By the time we reach you to do that the time will have passed. So if you are one of those asking us to pay this when it hits 7.2 please contact your card company and let them know a foreign charge from "Southern Touring" will be coming through in the near future.

As I understand it the rate is applied at the time it is charged - however it can take a week to 10 days even to show up on your credit cards. Some get it within a day it has still not shown up on my card and we charged on 1/23/08.

So if you want to do this it has to be all set up ahead of time. We cant get it all pulled together at the last minute. So get in touch with us if you want us to get your payoff ready. You can say 7.2 or higher or 7.3 or higher whatever it is you want, either partial payoff or full payoff.

You can also just wait until the normal payment date in June - totally your decision.

GAME can also be thinking about this but you do have three months longer to play with than those on ROAR

Also I have told those that paid off already but will post here also. Ker & Downey did send an email telling us that although the safari fare is set in price the flights are only "estimated" and pricing cannot be confirmed until the flights are actually purchased. This was noted on your invoices.

They cannot purchase the flights until everyone is paid in full as there are stiff penalities that come into play once purchased. The charter flights have been rising in cost since they quoted us with normal increases coupled with the fuel costs. I asked for an estimate of price increase. It all depends on the flights your itinerary includes but she said around $200 per person is probably what we are looking at now.

I leave on Wednesday for ICE, if you know you want to pay on a Rand Spike please get in touch with me so I can get all this set up for Debbie to handle while I am gone.

Ngaire

FYI... Rand is at 7.29 right now. (1/30 at 11am EST)

Andrea

Over 7.4 exchange this morning!!

They are having some power problems in S.A. as the mines are cranking out Gold and Platinum to take advantage of the high commodity prices. This is putting pressure on their power grid. The commodity prices are coming down a bit, coupled with the infrastructure issues, coupled with our sub prime problems going global = a nice exchange rate for now.

7.5 now, I think it's time to pay this thing off!!

Good for you-great timing.

Well, it didn't go through today, but I'm hoping for something similar tomorrow :)

It's still hanging on at 7.48 as of 3:30 cst

Be patient and do not count your chickens too quickly. I authorized on 1/21 and have yet to see the charge on the card statement. I think there is a lot of admin process that is outside the control or influence of B&K. Conclusion now is a good time and do not count on the savings until you see what hits your statement. It is all good and we are not doing ROAR II because of the RAND price. It is a great deal with out the exchange savings. Remember Ngaire set most of the costs back in 2006 and she has said that independent of the exchange rate the cost would be 20 to 25% higher if booked today.

Ralph,

We recently made a payment too and while it hasn't yet hit my credit card, it has been "authorized." I noticed this because my available credit went down, even though I had a $0 balance. So, I called Amex and the rep I spoke to told me I should get the currency conversion rate at the time of the authorization and not the one in effect at the time the charge actually appears on my bill.

It will be interesting to see the rate used when the charge finally comes through. As I recall, when we put down the deposit, it took quite awhile before the charge appeared on my credit card statement.

I agree though. I was happy with the package price when it was priced at 6.7 rand per $1, so anything charged above that rate is a nice added bonus!

Andrea

Still above 7.4...come on hold on until morning!!!!

Lauri,

I'm getting a bit obsessed with checking the rand! LOL! I called my hubby from work today to announce the rate had hit 7.5. He was like, "Don't you have any actual work to do?" ha ha!

Andrea

My husband is the same way. When I saw it hit 7.5 this morning I called him and said I'm paying it off now!

He was like...OK you're spending how many thousands of dollars and are worried about 7.2 vs. 7.4??? GET OVER IT!!!

Still it's the thrill of the chase!

I can certainly relate to these posts! We made a 35000 rand payment when it was at 7.42 back in August and then when we had to cancel, the refund came in when the dollar was weak (a rate of 6.88)...so we "made" $337 on the deal! Bittersweet indeed...we MUCH would have rather been on ROAR2... :(

But that's my funny story!

Kristin,

I'm sorry you're missing ROAR but at least the exchange rate went in your favor! The opposite would have been adding insult to injury.

Ngaire made payment for GAME for me on Tuesday and it is on the credit card today. Used AMX. Exchange rate when processed was good - I just don't know what it was.

Mine went through this morning at around 7.4 Rand. Yay!!

We told Debbie to go ahead and put ours on the AMEX. Can't be done until Monday morning. If the rate is not good then, we will wait. In the meantime, John's staph infection is finally clearing up. Been on Vanco 58 days. Hopefully he will return to work in a month or two. Otherwise, our trip will be canceled. Keeping our fingers crossed and saying lots of prayers.
Judy & John

Just adding something that may be of interest ......if you happen to have the Capitol One Credit card it saves you money if you use this cc to pay, something about a foreign transaction fee other cards charge.

Judy, I sure hope John's staph infection is OK so you don't need to cancel ROAR 2.

The BMW Bank card doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee either. That card has saved us a LOT of money on our foreign travels!

Marcie:
You are so right!
Capital One does not charge a fee on international transactions which can be as much as 3% on some cards!
Of course, they may put a fee in any day! who knows? But while they are reasonable, everyone should look into it.
(I've always found their exchange rate to be pretty good, too)

Doug
a banker by trade, a traveler by heart

We never use this card in the USA but when we travel outside, we ALWAYS use it !!

rand is 7.69 today.

Looks promising for 8.0 :app:

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Suzie:
<strong> Looks promising for 8.0 :banana:

it's 7.81 this morning.

Charged ours to AMEX a couple days ago. AMEX called to ask if we Authorized this large charge. They said it hadn't gone through yet but will now that we authorized it via phone call. Glad they touch base with large charges. Does anyone know if we get the rate of the rand on the day it goes through or the day it was approved. Because it seems to be getting better daily. I called AMEX and they said it had been approved but not posted yet. Sorry to be so confused about this. But I know someone out there will have the answer. In other words, if it posts today, do we get it at the 7.81 that Arlene said was on 2/7? Or do they rate it on the day it was approved (Tues)? The person I spoke with at AMEX didn't know much at all. Just said it approved for such and such amount. However, the trip insurance did post and went through. I better get to bed. I just worked 13 hrs. last night and am rambling. Sorry! Judy

Not sure exactly how they calculate it, but I am pretty sure that you get the rate in effect at the time the transaction actually takes place. That rate is also different than the one quoted on the internet. When we paid, the rate was 7.2 on the internet and I think we got 7.04 when the transaction cleared. Still a good savings when compared with the excahnge rate 1-2 months ago.

Does anyone know what it was last week? Where do you find it? judy

Judy, I have used www.oanda.com for years and Crystal turned me on to www.xe.com last week. Maybe one of these sites can help you.